Jailbird -Alex-

Below is the poem entitled Jailbird -Alex- which was written by poet
Annalee
Pierce. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.

Jailbird -Alex-

You locked yourself inside a hole
And you threw away the
Key
You got so lost in the bottle that you
Forgot just how to breathe
You're waiting for some saving grace
So you can fight off all your
Demons
But someday you'll have to save yourself
Before you drink yourself to
Death
You're the jailbird from next door
Who can't remember how
To fly
You're haunted by the monsters that destroyed
You as a child
Now your world is black with shadows
It's darker than a moonless sky
You howl at the stars and pray for the steady
Warmth of daylight
What you couldn't see was there were
Angels all around you
Waiting in the background till they could
See you with sober
Eyes
They would have taken you with open
Arms
They would have bandaged all your wounds
But to risk your unaffected pride?
That's unthinkable
To you
The truth is, you've become a vulture
You eat the heart out of
The good
You spit joy out like it's sour juice
And exchange happiness
For booze
And once again, you're on the edge
Ready to jump right off the
Cliff
Oh, jailbird, what will happen when there's no one
Left to break your fall?
And whatever happened to the boy I used
To know?
The one I believed was worth saving, whom
I thought could be saved?
You strayed from your cage for quite awhile
It looked like you had a chance
It turns out, you could barely stay afloat, so you just
Chose to drown
While you were knee-deep in quick sand, you
Could have gotten out by
Now
So you're packing up your bags, and
It's no doubt you'll have
To go
Even the luckiest black cats have had
To fight for their nine lives
You're down to the nubs of your nail-bitten soul
And the stakes are higher than ever
The next time you get up on top
Of that ledge
I hope it's because you've found the wings
So you can fly